Marco Scozzaro: Obsessed
June 5th, 2020
A master at exploring cultural artefacts, humour and the line between reality and fiction, photographer Marco Scozzaro is obsessed with contemporary constructs and visual artifice. Public Offerings Ltd. caught up with the artist to discuss his latest work, visual tension and showcasing serious issues, without taking yourself too seriously.
POL: What initially drew you to photography as an artistic medium?
MS: I’ve always been interested in pictures. It’s actually more accurate to say obsessed. Maybe growing up in the ‘80s has something to do with that...
POL: You have an MA in Psychology with a concentration in Visual Perception, how does this academic background impact on how you approach your work?
MS: I recently realised how much my studies have laid the conceptual foundation for my visual research, especially those about perception, methodology, social psychology, and sociology.
There is a constant psychological tension in my older work, that is more figurative, while my recent one tends to be more abstract, addressing perceptual and sociological implications of photography as a medium.
POL: In your pieces there are visual links to mass media, and the visuals of consumer culture, how would you explain how your work is exploring today’s visual landscape?
MS: I play with stereotypical imagery circulated by media and I use humor to address my ambivalence towards the seduction of pop culture. For example, I am very attracted by the constructed images of advertising but also very critical of what they stand for, so I create possible conversations with fragments taken from different contexts.
POL: Within your practice you encompass many mediums (including photography, print, installation, video and performance), what draws you to broader multi-media projects?
MS: I believe that images don’t live in a vacuum but are in conversation with sound, space, and time. That’s why I am interested in exploring a topic from multiple angles. It’s more compelling for the viewer to dig through different layers, and more interesting for the work to be fluid to allow different interpretations.
POL: There is a clear theoretical structure to your work, but it is on the surface visually light hearted, how important would you say a sense of humour is to your photography and what you’re trying to express?
MS: Humour is a key element in my approach as it allows me to explore serious ideas without taking myself too seriously. I like the fact that the work can be enjoyed on different levels: you might like the playful appearance, but also be interested in exploring what’s behind it, and the ambiguity of what’s in between.
POL: Have you got any projects underway? What’s next for your work?
MS: My solo show The Big Flat Now just “opened” at Baxter St, here in NY. It’s a scale model of an installation created in collaboration with Flyweight Projects. In respect of social distancing, the curators and I decided not to have an opening reception and the particular nature of the project allowed us to install it in the window of the gallery. You can visit the online viewing room at baxterst.org/the-big-flat-now/
“Images don’t live in a vacuum but are in conversation with sound, space, and time.”
“I am very attracted by the constructed images of advertising but also very critical of what they stand for, so I create possible conversations with fragments taken from different contexts.”
About Marco Scozzaro
Marco Scozzaro is an Italian multidisciplinary artist based in New York City. He earned his MA in Psychology with a concentration in Visual Perception from the University of Parma, Italy, and a post-baccalaureate certificate in Photography from the School of Visual Arts, NY.
He has had solo shows at Baxter St, NY, and Galleria Civica di Modena, Italy; and two-person shows at Ed Varie, NY; and Galerie Villa des Tourelles, Paris.Group shows and screenings include BRIC, Brooklyn, NY; Microscope Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Aperture Foundation, NY; and Lishui Photography Festival, China, among others.
Scozzaro is a recipient of the NYSCA Experimental Media and Film grant from the Institute of Electronic Arts at Alfred University, NY; a Media Art Fellowship from BRIC, Brooklyn, NY; an artist residency from Signal Culture, Owego, NY; a Workspace Residency from the Camera Club of New York, NY; and an AIM fellowship from the Bronx Museum of the Arts, NY.
He is an adjunct faculty member at SVA, NY, and has been visiting artist at Parsons, NY, guest critic at Cooper Union, NY, and mentor for the Immigrant Artist Program at the New York Foundation for the Arts, Brooklyn, NY.
His work has appeared in Artnet, Der Greif, GUP, and Osmos, and has been commissioned by The New York Times, Vogue Italia, GQ, and Vice, among others.